Frost and Flare
by Kathryn Claire O'Connor
Summary: Takes place after Ironman 3. The Extremis stayed inside Pepper and its presence destroyed her life with Tony - and that was before a banished Loki stumbled upon her. Then her new roommate decides to go play good guy, and she gets dragged into the fray to become the superhero duo "Frost and Flare"... but they can't keep the Avengers away and in the dark forever...
1. Chapter 1

**This story takes place after Ironman 3, and we're going to veer off into AU a little bit and say that Tony couldn't get the Extremis out of Pepper... and that maybe once he figured that out, this is what happened... Enjoy!:)**

* * *

"Pepper, I _can't_," Tony said, his tone a mixture of frustration and defeat as he threw his head back. "There's just no getting rid of this Extremis! It's a part of you now… like… Bruce."

"Please don't say that," Pepper all but whispered, fighting tears as her gaze begged him to fix what was wrong with her… and maybe even whatever had started going wrong in their relationship.

"You don't get it, do you?" Tony asked, slamming his palms down onto the lab table. "I have been trying _everything _in this past month since Killian to get Extremis out of you! It. Won't. Go. I've already come up with and given you something to make it controllable, and so far that's working, but I cannot make it go _away_. It's here to stay, Pep… and you may just have to accept that."

"What about you?" Pepper asked, sudden fear constricting her chest as she saw something else flash through his eyes. "What are you thinking that you're not telling me?"

Tony looked at her for a beat longer before he sighed and dropped his eyes to his hands, saying, "Jarvis has already filtered dozens upon dozens of concerned comments from people at Stark International about you remaining CEO."

"You're going to fire me, aren't you?" she whispered in shock. "That's why you asked me to come here this afternoon; you didn't have more news on Extremis, you wanted to give up on it and take my job!"

"It's not like that," Tony answered. "It's not just me; it's the board too!"

"'Too'? As in 'also'?" Pepper asked, anger bubbling as her skin heated bringing to the fore the more violent inclinations that came with Extremis. "After everything I've done for you, all these years I've been your _brain_, your - _the only person you've got_, and now you just want to toss that all to the curb because of Killian?!"

"Not because of Killian," Tony said warily, taking a step away from her as her skin began to glow with visible flame-like heat. "Because of what you're doing right now. People are an extremely infuriating thing, and Stark International can't have you turning into a glow-stick in the middle of a board meeting; that might bring on unwanted attention."

"Since when do you care?!"

"Since the board is making me care. They thought you might take it better from me."

"Because they're afraid of me."

Tony just nodded reluctantly.

"And you're supposedly not? That's obviously not true; look at you now, Tony! You're practically cowering behind your desk!"

"You're kind of on fire, sweetheart-"

"Do _not _'sweetheart' me! And you know what? How _dare you _even try and tell me about 'infuriating' people? I have worked for _you _for how many years? If there's anyone in the world I should be staying away from, it's _you_, Tony Stark!"

Tony just stood there for a minute, not meeting her eyes before he nodded, and when his gaze found hers, she was horrified by what she saw therein. He agreed with her. More than that… he didn't want her around since she was like this.

She had known, really she had, at least in the unacknowledged part of the back of her mind, that he was going to break up with her if they couldn't get rid of the Extremis, but here it was. The moment had come; they were ending, despite all that she had done for him over the years… and she wasn't even surprised. Tony would always be in love with himself beyond all others, and if he wanted her to get out of his life, then… fine.

Pepper nodded, taking a deep breath before she said stiffly, "Alright; goodbye, Mr. Stark."

She was at the lab door before Tony called out, "Pepper, wait." She stopped and turned her head, halfway looking at him over her shoulder and he dug something out of his pocket, holding it out to her with a simple, "here" as he went to her at the door.

Her last check, Pepper realized with a role of her eyes once she had taken the slip of paper. Whipped straight out of his pocket – which meant that she was right; he had been planning this when he'd asked to see her.

As she walked up the stairs outside of the lab, Pepper called back to him, "You have a press meeting at two tomorrow; Rhodey's coming by tonight at six for supper and to discuss the new automatic weapons designs you ran by him on Monday, and, Tony?"

"Yeah?" he asked, watching her through the glass doors.

Here she looked back at him, straight in the eye and meaning every word as she ordered, "Don't ever talk to me again."

Within two hours, Pepper had gathered all of her things from the tower, put them into the back of the car that Tony had bought for her, and was driving through New York City on her way back to her old apartment. Earlier in the year, before Tony had asked her to move in with him, she'd contracted the apartment out for another year, so even though it had been lying dormant these past few months, it was still hers, which made leaving the tower so much less complicated.

Surprisingly, after getting so "fired up" during her argument and breakup with Tony, she was miraculously calm. It was rather… freeing… to think that she didn't have to get up the next morning and deal with board meetings, trustees, and the latest lie floating through the news. And Tony's antics. Not having to deal with Tony… yeah, she could think of it that way. As his assistant, she really had just been an overpaid babysitter, and that hadn't really changed when she'd become CEO of his company, considering that they'd started a relationship with one another not soon after.

Then there was the problem of what to do about a job now that she didn't have SI consuming her life. She had more than enough money in her accounts connected with Tony to stay afloat – probably for years, if she was careful. Maybe now was the time for her to start writing the next great American novel? Or, as was more practical, call up an old friend of hers and see if he was still looking for a new accountant.

_Yeah_, Pepper mused, dragging her first load of stuff up to her old apartment. _An accountant._ Pepper Potts was going to be an accountant. It was time for her life to start looking like a normal life again.

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**What do you think so far? This chapter is almost more of a prologue, really. Reviews would make my day, if you felt like dropping me one! Thanks!:)**


	2. Chapter 2

_Two months later_

For Loki, the problem with prisons or cages of any sorts that he was put into was that he could transport himself directly from one spot to another thanks to his magic. This, of course, meant that he could go from _inside_ an Asgardian prison cell to _outside _the prison cell in the blink of an eye. It took Odin long enough to figure this out, and when the All-Father had, he was not a happy god.

It had taken numerous very firm arguments from Frigga for Odin to decide to keep his word about not killing Loki outright, considering his actions in New York, and a few, even more heated arguments from the same woman to convince Odin that New York City was in fact the _best_ place for Loki to be. That way he was already in the Avengers' backyard should he decide to wreak havoc on Midgard again.

Not that he was in the mood to do so. Not that anyone believed he wasn't in the mood for it… He had tried to tell Odin, Frigga, Thor, and all of the rest of them _numerous times _that he _honestly_ wasn't responsible for his actions. The Chitauri had made him do the things that he had. But did they believe him? _No_, of course not… So away he was sent to Midgard, choosing to take one of his own routes onto the planet – much more inconspicuous, considering that the mortals were still harboring some ill will towards him and he didn't desire death – and landing smack dab in the middle of New York City. In the dead of night. With nowhere to go. How joyous. What was he supposed to do now?

First off: he needed to change his appearance so that he was not easily recognizable. There were too many mortals who wanted to kill him for that to be a good idea.

Before he could even decide what sort of a person he wanted to shift into, he heard a sudden, half-frantic feminine voice snap from further down the alley he was in, "I don't care who you think I am; I don't have any more money! You've already got my jewelry; what else do you want?" Loki was already starting to get concerned for the woman, but when he heard her yelp, "Hey, don't touch me!" he started moving towards the two shadowy figures, thinking fast before reverting to his Jotun form. If he needed to intervene in anything, a Jotun would most easily scare the apparent robber away.

"Leave the lady be!" Loki called out once he was only a few steps away from the duo.

"Oh, really?" the man scoffed while Loki remained in the shadows. "Are you gonna make me?"

"If you don't return her valuables and walk away, yes."

Loki rather enjoyed watching the man's expression change when he stepped into the light from the dingy street lamp and towered over him, red eyes glowering. Shaking, pale and horrified, the filthy man ripped the entire contents of his pockets out into the opened and dropped it all carelessly onto the ground before fleeing.

Turning to the woman who, he noticed, was almost as shaken as her assailant, Loki asked, "Are you hurt?"

The redhead shook her head, blue eyes wide as she took him in, before finding her voice and saying haltingly, "No, I-I'm fine, thanks." She knelt onto the ground jerkily, picking up her jewelry and money.

"You appear shaken," Loki observed with a calm tilt of his head, curiously noticing a there-and-gone flash of orange light seemingly coming from _within _her wrist.

"And you appear…" She trailed off as she glanced up at him, and then decided upon the word, "Cold."

Loki snorted, drawling, "Indeed."

"Are you… a mutant?" the woman guessed hesitantly.

"I'm sorry?"

"A mutant. You know," she stood and looked up at him, offering, "Rogue, Wolverine, Cyclops… mutant."

"Ah, yes." Maybe he should thank her later for giving him an easy out to the honest answer. "Yes, I'm a… mutant."

She assessed him for a second before asking, "Do you have a place to stay overnight? I've got to be careful with my money right now, but I'd like to repay you somehow for helping me."

Well, and wasn't that a fine stroke of good fortune! This woman was turning out to be a god-send – not that Odin would have directed such kindness towards his adopted son.

"If you're offering accommodations, than I would accept them gratefully."

"Okay. Well, why don't we go somewhere else and talk besides this place? Dark alleys aren't great for conversation."

"Very well," Loki agreed.

"But… we're not exactly going to be able to get a cab with you like that… so I guess we're walking from here."

"Perhaps not," Loki replied. "What is your address?" She gave him a strange look, but rattled it off before he ordered, "Wrap your arms around me."

"What?!"

"It's part of my… mutation; I swear no harm will come to you."

Looking at him like he had lost his mind – and maybe he had – she nervously wrapped her arms around his waist, and he was surprised at the heat that radiated from off of her skin. Then within the blink of an eye they were inside her small apartment.

"What?" the woman whispered, looking around in awe at the familiar surroundings. "How did you do that?"

"Teleportation," Loki said easily, grinning a little as he unwound the stunned woman's arms from around his waist.

"Oh…" she said softly, tugging her black suit jacket back into place as she tried to appear calm. "Okay."

"I presume you have a name?" Loki asked with arched eyebrows.

"Yes, of course, I'm, uh, P-" she flinched as if she'd just made a mistake and said, "Virginia Potts. You are?"

"I didn't think mutants gave out their names."

"They have a code name or something, then, don't they?"

Ms. Potts appeared to know more about mutants than he did, and he was supposed to _be_ one! This was an impossibly thinly constructed cover. He was going to be dead inside of a week. Inside of the next twenty-four hours, if he didn't get his act together.

"I…yes." _Think, Loki! _"I am… Frost."


	3. Chapter 3

"Pepper," the woman in question spoke aloud to herself the next morning as she went around her kitchen, fixing breakfast for two. "How stupid can you be? Really? You have a _frost mutant _in your guest room! You'll probably melt the guy if you get within twenty feet of him! To say nothing of the fact that you don't know him from Adam! What if he's some kind of criminal? A mutant gone bad? He could- he could be anything! And he didn't even want to tell you his name?"

Pepper planted her hands on the counter, strengthening her resolve as she decided that there was nothing else to do but kick this guy out of her apartment, since he obviously seemed to be hiding something. Going to the bedroom, she opened the door, steeling herself to see the strange blue man. But what she saw startled her even more, and she couldn't help the scream that ripped out of her body as she simultaneously burst straight into flames. Then the man in the guest bed – the _god _actually, _Loki! – _woke up screaming as well, and shot a blast of energy at her, which she skirted, only for it to make a huge dent in her wall.

"Please," Loki said frantically, scrambling onto his feet. "Calm down!"

"Do I look calm?!" she screamed.

He took a step back, registering the hot fire that appeared to dance on the surface of her skin. "No, not at all… but… I may be able to help, if you'll allow me to touch you."

"Touch me? Are you nuts? You threw my ex out of a freaking window while you were in the middle of trying to take over the planet!"

"Are you capable of calming yourself down and… extinguishing yourself so that we might have a civil conversation?"

"'A civil conversation'?" Pepper repeated in disbelief. "Get out of my apartment before I call Dr. Banner!"

"Give me a chance to explain; I have nowhere else to go." He reached a hand hesitantly towards her, requesting again, "Allow me to help you. Please."

Then he switched back to his blue form from the night before and laid a hand on her neck. Little by little, his hand became colder and colder. It was only once she shivered that Pepper realized that after relaxing under his touch, the cold had actually helped to calm her back down.

Loki withdrew his hand and nodded stiffly towards the living room, asking, "Now may I say my piece?"

Still shaken – literally shaking from the shock of having _Loki _in her house – she felt she had no choice but to nod and lead him into the kitchen where she had been working only a few minutes before. While she finished making breakfast, he sat at the kitchen table and told her how the Chitauri had controlled him during his attempted takeover.

Though she didn't want to, Pepper found herself believing him. Yes, he was known for having a "silver tongue," but he had that same haunted look in his gaze that Pepper had seen before in Hawkeye's eyes when she'd briefly met the other Avengers after New York. He was telling the truth. And considering what that truth was, he'd just become a lot more trustworthy in her book.

She rested her chin on her palm, elbow on the table as she considered the man across from her and the story he'd just told her. "So… you're dad-"

"-Odin is not my father-"

"Kicked you off of your home planet and ordered you to live in NYC?"

"Yes."

"And you have nowhere to go, no one to take care of you, no real skills with which you could take care of yourself, no money, and no place to stay?'

"That is correct."

"And you somehow managed to land yourself in my path," she said, rubbing a hand across her eyes. "Me of all people. That's just great."

"'Of all people'?" Loki repeated. "What do you mean, Ms. Potts?"

"Do you have any idea who I am?" Pepper queried.

"You introduced yourself as Virginia Potts. Is that not your true name?"

"It is, but no one's called me that in years. I guess it's just wishful thinking that people will stop now that I'm not with Tony."

"Tony Stark?" Loki asked, raising his eyebrows.

She couldn't help asking, "Did you throw anybody else out of a window mid-failed-takeover?"

"No, come to think of it," he answered with a shrug.

"Well then, yes, Tony Stark."

"And you are his…" Loki waved a hand in the air, trying to find the word he was looking for.

"Girlfriend? Not anymore, no. He booted me out of his life two months ago, thanks to that little light-up trick you saw earlier."

"I should think you might be grateful for disentangling yourself from his world."

"Yeah, I guess I am," Pepper admitted, stabbing the last of her eggs. "But a little more recognition would've been nice."

"I didn't think Stark was capable of allowing the spotlight onto anyone but himself."

"You know, you have a point there."

Loki hesitated before saying, "Ms. Potts, if you're going to order me to leave, you might as well do it."

"I don't know yet," Pepper replied thoughtfully. "You need help from _somebody_, and that little ice trick you did when I freaked was the quickest cool down I've had since I got my little… powers."

"So you are suggesting that we could become mutually beneficial to one another?"

Pepper nodded slowly, saying, "Yeah, I think I am." And then, "Maybe just on a trial basis for a week?"

"Agreed," Loki said instantly, appearing greatly relieved to have a place to stay for even that little bit of time. A thoughtful look crossed his face then and he asked, "But… may I inquire? You said you had _gotten _your powers? You haven't always had them?"

"Goodness, no! Only for the past three months."

Loki cocked his head curiously to the side, and Pepper sighed, resigning herself to the fact that it was now her turn to tell her story.

When she was finished speaking, Loki asked, "Do you have your own – how did you phrase it – code name?"

"No; I'm not a mutant."

"Neither am I, but apparently I now have an alias of a mutant known as Frost. You ought to have a mutant to blame your flare ups on too."

In her opinion, that idea was stupid and useless, but she didn't want to get on her new housemate's wrong side already, so she answered, "Well, there you go. If you want me to come up with a name I won't ever use, you can call me 'Flare,' if you like."


	4. Chapter 4

"We've got to do something about you if you're planning on staying on Earth," Pepper said despairingly after the breakfast things had been taken care of.

"What do you mean?" Loki asked in confusion, setting aside the television remote he had been fiddling with.

"You need…" Pepper waved a hand at his person from where she stood in the living room doorway, finally settling on saying, "…Clothes."

Glancing down at his attire, Loki asked, "Is the way I dress lacking somehow?"

"No… actually, it's exactly the opposite. It's too much."

"Is that not fitting for a prince?" Loki asked, suddenly feeling peeved.

"Yeah, maybe where you come from, but around here the closest thing I'll tolerate to a prince nowadays is going through the Burger King drive-through."

Loki's eyebrows drew together as he asked, "What?"

"Well, I guess that makes Burger King our second stop after the mall."

"Isn't that a Midgardian shopping center?"

"A mall? Yes, it is, and you and I are going to one."

"Why?"

"Because you need clothes that don't make you stand out – that don't scream 'I'm the guy who tried to take over your world.' Normal clothes, 'Frost,' and don't argue with me, or I'll kick you out."

Loki raised his eyebrows at this, amused by the woman with sparking eyes standing before him with arms crossed determinedly over her chest. "I could subjugate you personally in about twenty different ways; I could kill you within the next second with no one around to hear your screams, and yet you're worried about my clothing?"

"I'm worried about the fact that someone might figure out I've got the world's most wanted man in my apartment."

"Would this better suit your purposes?" Loki asked, shape-shifting into a middle-aged businessman.

This gave the woman – Ms. Potts – pause until she said, "Maybe, but I'm not going to ask you to change into a bunch of different people all the time; then I'd never know who to look for or who I'm living with. I'd rather you just look like yourself – like an American version of you, anyway."

"I suppose you're right," Loki admitted with a sigh, shifting back into his Asgardian form.

"You know I am," Pepper shot back. "Now figure out somebody to be with your exact shape while I get my shoes and the car keys."

"I could just teleport us there, you know."

"I don't feel like hugging a super villain; thanks," Pepper quipped, tugging her tennis shoes on as she came back into his line of sight.

"You don't trust me?" he asked, further amused by her take-charge attitude.

"Would you trust you?" she inquired sweetly.

He smirked, complementing, "You are a smart woman, Ms. Potts."

As he adopted brown hair, eyes of the same color, and a beard, he could've sworn he heard her mutter "and yet you're still here" as she walked past him towards the exit.

It was then that Loki thought he might just enjoy living with this stubborn little redheaded mortal.

As he managed to fold himself into the passenger side of her car, he inquired, "Are you famous, Ms. Potts?"

"Why would you ask that?" she inquired, looking over her shoulder as she pulled out of the parking lot.

"It's just that you said last night when that man was trying to rob you that he recognized you as someone whom he apparently thought had a lot of money."

"Yeah… he hadn't looked at the news a lot recently," she replied dryly, bitterness lacing her tone. "I did become the second-most-recognizable face of Stark International when I became CEO of Tony's company, which is a position that I no longer hold."

"Thus you did not have the money that he desired."

"Right. Not that he believed that, of course."

"Of course," Loki agreed. "Tell me, do people stop you like that often?"

"To rob me? No."

"But does being recognizable as Pepper Potts make going out into the public more difficult at all?"

"Sometimes," she admitted. "That's why these days during the week I work behind closed doors crunching numbers."

Loki didn't understand the phrase about breaking numbers, but he ignored it, concentrating instead upon the idea that he was formulating before he said, "You know… I can shape-shift others besides myself."

"Meaning what?" she asked, distractedly maneuvering through weekend city traffic.

"This."

A small smile danced about his expression as he waved his hand and she became a tall, brunette with brown eyes.

"What the heck?" she screeched, nearly swerving off the road.

Loki braced himself against the dashboard as she righted the vehicle and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself back down. That's when he saw the first flickers of light come from her arms.

"Calm down," he said soothingly, laying a hand on her arm and letting his Jotun coolness take over whilst staying in his new "American" form.

"Didn't I tell you earlier this morning not to tell me to calm down?"

"No."

"Well don't! Now what did you do to me?!"

"It's just a cosmetic shape-shifting spell; you're still you underneath the surface."

"Obviously, otherwise you wouldn't be trying to freeze me right now." She shivered then, shrugging his hand away as she said, "I'm fine now."

"Good," Loki said. "And personally, I rather like that look on you – for extremely practical reasons only, of course."

"And what are those?" she asked dryly.

"Well, look at us. This way we look like siblings – just my little sister giving me fashion advice in the mall on a Saturday. That's much less questionable than a dethroned prince and an equally dethroned CEO going clothes shopping, correct?"

"Yeah," Pepper finally admitted.

"Wonderful. Shall we require new monikers for these forms?"

"Why?" she asked.

"Why not?" Loki replied with a shrug. "I clearly cannot remain myself here on Midgard, so I must find someone else to become. In these forms we even look like siblings."

Pepper quipped, "I thought you didn't like siblings."

"My brother is a special case," Loki drawled before he said decidedly, "Veronica."

"What?" Pepper asked, then rolled her eyes as she realized, "Is that this brunette's name?"

"Of course," Loki nodded, feeling rather absurdly pleased with himself for causing her irritation while he watched her watch the road.

"Fine; then you're Luke," she said disinterestedly.

"You're only humoring me, aren't you?" Loki realized, which only increased how amusing he found her.

"You're extending the same courtesy to me, aren't you, 'Frost'?"

Loki smirked, answering, "Indeed, I am, my dearest Flare."


	5. Chapter 5

Loki needed Pepper now, though, and they both knew it, so he was on his best behavior that weekend. Pepper furnished him with the things she felt were necessary to help him fit in, taught him how to use the television and an old Smartphone she had around the house, and left for work Monday morning praying that her apartment would still be in one piece once she returned.

And it was – only she hadn't counted on Loki leaving said apartment, let alone what he would do once he got outside.

But there it was, plastered live all over the break room television. 'Frost' the ice mutant was on TV playing vigilante in the middle of freaking Central Park!

Pepper swore, gathering up her things and heading for the door, screaming over her shoulder at her boss, "Jim, I've got to go! Emergency came up!"

She managed to make it out onto the sidewalk before the Extremis took over. Dropping her things in her car before she headed for the park on foot, she just let the flames take her over, speed doubling and tripling as Extremis coursed through her veins. A flash of inspiration had her launching from the sidewalk onto a rooftop and then from one to another to another – it was quicker and less people saw her – until she saw Frost in the park, in the middle of what appeared to have turned into a full-on assault directed towards him.

She had time to mutter a vehement, "I'm going to kill him," before she let a growl tear loose from her throat as she launched herself at the back of one of Frost's assailants. He fell to the ground screaming in pain from the burns he had suddenly sustained as Pepper wheeled away from him and kicked another man when he came at her.

"How nice of you to join me, Flare," Frost said sweetly, ducking under the swing of a third man.

In response, Pepper spewed fire in their direction, narrowly missing Frost as the blaze hit the other man directly in the face.

Frost raised his eyebrows, hand blasting ice at a previously unseen man behind her shoulder as he remarked, "Well, that's an interesting development. I suppose I ought to thank you for your help, by the way."

"It's not a new development," Pepper answered sharply throwing a couple of punches at another guy. "And you are _so _not welcome. What the h*** were you thinking?!"

"That I was bored," he answered calmly, harshly elbowing someone who tried to sneak up behind him. "I started tinkering on the phone you gave me and stumbled upon a police scanner – what did you call it – app. Perhaps the previous owner put it there? In any case, I tuned in and decided to help, since this city's ever so fine law enforcement seems to be having a bit of a busy day."

He turned to face her and smirked, blasting a final ball of ice at a man lunging at her while she propelled a stream of fire at the final attacker trying to harm them. And then they were standing, breathing heavily and staring at one another in the middle of nearly a dozen unconscious men. He smirked and she scowled. He stepped up to her and she barely refrained from slapping that smirk right off of his face, enflamed hand or not.

"Smile," he whispered. "There's a camera."

And then he kissed her.

* * *

"Hey, everybody!" Clint called from the living room of Avengers' Tower. "Come look at this thing on the news! I think there's aliens in Central Park!"

"Fury hasn't called us in yet, has he?" Natasha asked, checking her phone to make sure, as if aliens invaded the city every day.

Following behind the female Avenger, Thor paled as caught sight of who was on the television. Although he had no idea who the ball of fire was, he knew a Jotun when he saw one, and this specimen looked horrifyingly like a Jotun version of Loki. So that's what his brother looked like in his truest form…

"Not that I know of," Dr. Banner answered Natasha as he and Tony came up from the lab to see what was going on.

The moment Tony saw the two figures on the television, he screamed, "That's Pepper!"

"Where's Pepper?" Natasha asked, turning to Tony.

"The fire lady! Remember how I told you Pepper had been involved in an experiment gone wrong and she'd left me and that's why I called you guys over to come sulk with me?" He stabbed the television with every word he said next, "That's how it went wrong."

Steve raised his eyebrows, asking, "Your former girlfriend and CEO turned into the female version of the Human Torch?"

"Yes. No. Sort of. I don't know!"

"She needs help," Thor said finally, breaking into the others' conversation. "Her current position is unsafe."

"Looks like she's okay to me," Clint said, drawing their attention back to the television as the duo onscreen knocked out the last of their opponents.

"Yeah," Natasha smirked when – what in all the Nine Realms! – the Jotun Loki stepped forward and kissed her right there on camera. "Whoever she's with, she's got it all under control."

"Tony," Bruce said carefully, turning slowly to the billionaire at his side. "I've met Pepper before; I got to get a pretty good impression of her when I visited here. She doesn't strike me as the type of person to switch from one guy to another within eight weeks without having a _reason_ to get over the former guy that quickly. Is there something you're not telling us? Because we came here to support you because of a breakup – assuming you deserve the support."

"What are you saying?" Tony snapped defensively.

Bruce sighed, removing his glasses as he asked, "Did you kick her out? You told us that she left you, but something tells me that you were the one to break up with her. Do me a favor and tell us the truth before I have Jarvis locate her and then go and ask her myself."

Tony looked away first and sat back onto an ottoman, groaning "fine" as he raked his hands through his hair and then asked, "But if I do that, you have to promise you won't hate me or hurt me."


	6. Chapter 6

Back in the park, Pepper was having trouble piecing together a decent sentence, and Frost was tiring of the ring of people still surrounding the two of them, so he wrapped an arm around her waist and teleported them back to her apartment. Once Pepper was steady on her feet in her living room, Loki released her and shifted back into his Asgardian form.

Finally she burst out, "What the heck was that?!"

"A ploy at getting attention," Loki answered, surprised that she hadn't realized that, considering how much he assumed she had dealt with the media as a company's CEO.

"Why?!"

Loki shrugged, saying evenly, "Because I can."

"No!" Pepper screamed back at him. "No, you cannot! You cannot march around town as a block of ice, blasting bad guys! You cannot get me mixed into crap like this!"

"I never asked for your assistance, Flare," he pointed out.

She continued her tirade as if he hadn't even spoken, adding vehemently, "And you are most certainly not allowed to _kiss me_! _Ever_! I _will _kick you out!"

"But you need me just as much as I need you," Loki reminded her evenly.

"And how's that?!"

"Because of this," he replied, putting his hands on waist and watching her expression as her flames receded into nothingness.

She huffed, flushing and pushing his hands away as she turned away from him, muttering, "You still majorly overstepped your bounds."

"And for that I apologize," Loki said, attempting to follow after her, but nearly running her over when she stopped in her tracks and whirled to face him.

"Do you now? Or is an apology just another way to keep me calmed down because you don't want to live with an angry fire breather as your roommate?"

"Pepper-"

"Do not call me that!"

"I'm sorry," he apologized again, taking a step back. "Please, calm down!"

"I've already told you not to tell me to calm down! Do not tell an angry woman to calm down!

"Alright! I'm sorry!" He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. It wouldn't do for both of them to be angry. And then he smirked as a thought suddenly hit him and he said, "Do you realize how many times I've apologized since meeting you? I never apologize; that must speak rather highly of your, ah… nursemaid abilities like you exercised with Stark."

Pepper raised her eyebrows incredulously, unimpressed before she snorted and turned away to continue down the hallway, throwing over her shoulder, "The only thing it proves is how many stupid things you've done since coming here."

"I've done stupid things?" Loki inquired in surprise, calling after her, "Do you recall that little conversation we had Saturday about how many ways I could kill you? And yet the only thing you've done is infuriate me!"

She stopped again, then came back down the hallway to stand before him, saying testily, "Really? 'Infuriate' you? I assumed you'd choose a word more like 'amuse' you."

"That too," he nodded, his smirk growing.

She growled in annoyance and turned to walk away a third time, but he grabbed her forearm and she glared at him as he asked, smirk losing a bit of its carelessness, "Was it really that horrible?"

"What?" He raised his eyebrows and then she realized what he meant, saying sharply, "Being kissed? No. Being kissed on live television? Yes!"

"Hm," was all Loki said, surprised at the first part of her answer – brought on by the thoughtlessness that came with her still-simmering anger – as he decided that her opinion of him wasn't going to be able to get any lower today, so why not?

He cupped the back of her head in one hand, leaning forward and kissing her while wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her to him. This wasn't just the quick, chaste kiss he'd given her while in the park, and this time, when given actual time to do so, she kissed him back.

It took Pepper a few more seconds to realize what she was doing, but when she did, Loki wasn't at all surprised when she gasped and shoved him away, yelping, "What was that?"

"A kiss," Loki answered sweetly. "A rather enjoyable one, if I may say so myself."

"You may not!"

"I thought you wouldn't mind, since we're not in front of a television crew." He cocked his head to the side, the mischief that he was so well-known for lighting in his eyes as he asked, "That is what you said, isn't it?"

Pepper opened her mouth, eyes blowing wide as she turned a highly amusing number of shades of red, yet she seemed to have become speechless.

"Virginia?" he asked, arching one eyebrow.

She closed her mouth, then opened it again, gaping until she finally managed a squeak of indignation and then a huff as she turned on her heel and actually made it all the way down the hallway this time, slamming her bedroom door resoundingly behind herself as she left him to his own devices. Loki couldn't help it; his smirk grew until he very nearly laughed. Ms. Virginia Potts really was an entirely entertaining woman when she was flustered, and lucky for them both, he seemed to be good at knocking her off kilter.

Or maybe that wasn't such a good thing for him all the time, he realized, because it was past noon and he was hungry, and thus he would normally require Pepper to prepare him something to eat. At least this time, she'd made something in advance and put it in the refrigeration unit in anticipation of her still being at work through lunch. So he pulled out the plastic wrapped sandwich and set it on the table, grabbing a can of what Pepper, or Virginia – but Stark was right in that respect, she really didn't look like a Virginia – called soda and sat down to eat his meager meal.

A few bites in, he heard her bedroom door down the hallway open and she padded down the hall and into the kitchen. He glanced at her as if in greeting and she glared back to tell him that she was still angry with him while he took in her changed appearance. In stark contrast to the business attire she had been wearing when they got back to the apartment, she was now dressed in a baggy, obviously well-loved New York Yankees t-shirt and cut-off shorts, the look made complete by her bare feet and red hair being swept into a careless bun.

"You look… pretty," he complemented, surprised to find that he meant it.

But he was even more surprised when she slapped him sharply across the back of the head.


	7. Chapter 7

"Oh really now?" he said, eyebrows rising as he turned in his seat to watch Pepper rummage through the refrigeration unit. "Would you rather I told you that you looked like a heinous old troll? Because if that's what would please you, I can."

She seemed disinclined to break her silence to speak to him, only grabbing a carton of ham salad and peeling the lid back to plaster some of the stuff on a piece of bread as she shut the refrigerator and moved to the counter, pointedly turning her back to him.

"Stark's right about your name, I think," Loki shared with her, unfazed by her silence. "You don't look like a Virginia."

She rolled her eyes as she moved from standing at the counter to flop herself down in the chair opposite him at the table.

He tilted his head to the side, studying her petite features before he decided, "Perhaps… Ginny?"

Her eyes flew to his, registering something besides anger. She was intrigued.

Loki smiled and took that as a good sign, saying, "Very well, Ginny it is."

She smiled at him then; just barely, but a smile nonetheless.

"That's better," Loki praised with his own smile widening. "You know, when you're angry, you're easier to deal with when you just burst into flames."

She kicked him under the table, to which he only began laughing. He was surprised how relieved he was when, after a moment, she laughed as well.

"You, sir, are insane," she informed him, speaking at last.

"Probably," Loki agreed. "And you haven't even heard my latest idea."

"Did this come to you before or after 'Ginny'?" she asked warily.

"Goodness, before. Even I'm not that impetuous."

"Ginny" shrugged, saying, "I'm used to Tony, so it seems like a valid question."

"Ahh."

"Anyway," she prompted. "Latest idea."

"Do you think we did any good this afternoon in the park?"

Ginny shrugged, wariness growing in her eyes as she said, "By the time the cops got there, they had all those bad guys to lock up, so maybe. Why?"

"Do you think we worked well together?" Loki asked, nibbling at his sandwich as he watched her.

"In that context, I guess so… Why?"

"Because I think we ought to do it more often. Like a hobby – after-work activity." She was looking more and more against what he was saying the longer he spoke, so he shut up after offering the last-ditch effort of adding, "Trust building exercise?"

"I do not trust you, nor will I ever do so," Ginny said firmly. "End of story. And the answer is 'no.' Acting as a vigilante is against the law."

"Well, consider us an offshoot of the Avengers, then, if you must. We practically are that anyway."

"I don't appreciate the connection," Ginny answered dryly. "The answer is _no_. Do you understand?"

Loki nodded. Of course he understood… but surely even she suspected that he wouldn't actually _obey_.

* * *

Pepper – no, she was going to go by "Ginny" now – had meant what she'd said about not trusting Loki… but that didn't mean that she hadn't enjoyed him kissing her. She hated herself for admitting it while she laid in bed staring at the ceiling after midnight, but the kisses had been kind of nice. Yes, Loki quite frequently reminded her of Tony, but somehow he was so… _proper _even so. Except for those couple of times when he had done something wildly improper and kissed her. Which she hadn't minded. And she hated that she didn't mind. And here she was at square one again.

Gosh, why did men have to be so wonderful and so stupid!

* * *

Stupid was too kind, Ginny decided fiercely, once again glaring at the break room television the next morning. He – Frost, the ice 'mutant' – was trying to save people from a burning building! Honestly, did he have any common sense whatsoever?

"Jim, I'm so sorry, but something's come up again," she apologized over her shoulder once again as she darted out the door.

Less than ten minutes later, she landed in the Bronx in front of the burning building, fully "Flared" up.

"Frost!" she screamed up into the building.

Just like that, he bounded obligingly from a third story window, handing a wheezing kindergartener off to a rescue worker before he turned to her and said, "It took you long enough; I believe that was the last of the people inside. I have a feeling this is really more your sort of thing than mine anyway."

Ginny looked momentarily up at the groaning, burning building and flinched. _No, not really. Not by choice._

But then there was a sudden scream as a panicked woman threw herself at Frost, begging, "Please! Please help me! My daughter! She's sick and was home from school and isn't outside! Please, my baby's in there!"

Frost's red eyes blew wide and he looked across the woman's head to Flare for guidance.

"Ma'am," Flare asked, trying to keep her voice steady. "Which window is your apartment?"

The woman pointed and Flare didn't let herself think.

"Stay here on the ground and see if you can't do anything to help the firemen dampen the blaze," she ordered Frost before jumping onto the building, going from windowsill to windowsill until she got to the one the woman had indicated.

Once she was inside, only then did she notice that the smoke miraculously didn't bother her. Must be due to the improved organs that had come with Extremis.

She scanned the house, stepping straight through the walls of fire that would have stopped rescue attempts from anyone else right in their tracks until she stumbled upon the girl, curled up peacefully on the couch as if she was asleep. Most likely, she had been sleeping and simply inhaled enough fumes and smoke to pass out without coming to. Feeling guilty for even thinking it, Flare realized how much this could potentially make her job easier as she scooped the girl – probably around eleven years old – into her arms and went back the way she had come, jumping back out the window and saving the girl's life, to suddenly become one of the two most talked-about superheroes in New York City.

Another thought that she was none too proud of but couldn't really help but relish: _Take that, Tony._


	8. Chapter 8

"They're totally stealing our thunder!" Clint all but whined as he flopped down onto a couch a solid month later, having just turned off another Frost and Flare centered news' piece that had been on TV.

"I beg your pardon?" Thor asked in confusion. "My powers are perfectly in tact."

"It's a figure of speech, Point Break," Tony said with a roll of his eyes.

"They've got Fury pretty upset too," Steve remarked. "It's driving him up the wall that they can't figure out who these people are."

Tony added grimly, "I'm pretty sure he's already figured out that I'm blocking his systems from finding things out about them."

"Do you think he's figured out that you're trying to protect Pepper?" Bruce questioned.

Tony sighed, thinking this over before he decided, "I doubt it."

"Are we any closer to figuring out who Frost is?" Natasha asked. "None of SHIELD's equipment recognizes him, so they're starting to think that he's from off-world."

"At this point, I think I agree with them," Tony said. "I called Professor Xavier a few weeks ago and explained the situation. He said he'd seen the guy on TV like the rest of us, but that he didn't know who he was. He didn't think he was a mutant, and if Frost isn't a mutant, then an alien or whatever you want to call it is my second-best guess."

"Can I point out the obvious fix here?" Natasha asked flatly. "You have found that Pepper's back to living in her old apartment, right, Tony?"

"Yeah."

"Then why not go talk to her?"

Tony took a deep breath, snorting before he said, "Because she told me she never wanted to speak to me again."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Didn't you say that you thought Frost was living with her?"

"From her money trail, it looks like there's two people in the apartment now, yes."

"Then go and talk directly to him!"

"Yeah, I'm going to march up to Pepper's apartment door, demand entrance as well as answers, and give him what-for. That doesn't scream 'crazy ex' at all!"

Suddenly, Thor snapped to attention, quickly volunteering, "I'll go."

They all turned to look at the demi-god, and Clint asked, "Are you sure?"

Thor nodded.

"I could go with you, if you want."

"No!" Thor said almost too quickly. Of all the people in the Tower he wanted accompanying him to see Frost, Barton was the lowest on Thor's list, if he was right about who Frost actually was.

"Alright," Clint said slowly, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

"I don't want to make a scene or agitate them," Thor said, quickly thinking a lie up. "The less people who show up at their door, the better, I would think."

He should've become wary by how quickly all the others agreed.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Thor was already off and on his way towards Pepper's apartment building and the unsuspecting duo he hoped to find there.

It took about thirty seconds after Thor had left for Clint to ask, "Am I the only one who thinks he's hiding something?"

Bruce answered slowly, "I agree."

Then Natasha's "So we _are _going to follow him right?"

"I don't know," Steve said skeptically. "He was pretty blunt about wanting to go alone."

"That's exactly the point, Cap," Clint said, scooping up his bow and quiver.

"Then let me rephrase that for you," Natasha said with a sigh in his direction. "Clint and I are going to follow Thor; does anyone want to tag along?"

And thus the five other Avengers made their way to Pepper's apartment behind Thor.

* * *

"Oh, you're wonderful," Ginny praised with saccharine sweetness when she came into the kitchen to find Loki actually washing their lunch dishes.

"You threatened to throw me out if I didn't start helping somehow," Loki reminded her drolly.

"And see how well a little prompting can work out?" Ginny said, batting her eyelashes in pretended innocence.

"I believe you may have acquired too much of my own personality for my taste, Ginny, dearest."

"Nah," Ginny laughed, grabbing a dishtowel and beginning to dry what he had washed. "You've just gotten me to lighten up a little."

"My greatest achievement," Loki teased. "At least of the week."

"Even considering that kidnapping we derailed at the homeless shelter a couple of days ago?"

"You are a more worthy opponent than that drunk will ever be," Loki informed her.

Ginny grinned and leaned over on her tiptoes, aiming to kiss his cheek. Eyes sparkling, he lifted his head out of her reach just because he could. She glared and dropped heavily back onto her heels. He smirked, lifting her easily onto the edge of the counter and kissing her on his terms – full on the mouth and greedy in ways that only he could get away with nowadays.

So, yeah, they were partners in being "superheroes," but they'd gone to bed together too a few times here recently. And maybe they'd started using the occasional term of endearment for one another. None of that meant that they were in love or anything; it was just something that they did… and enjoyed doing.

Ginny hardly even bothered to remember the life she'd had three months ago. Especially during moments like this, when Loki's hands – still wet with the dishwater, making them warmer than normal – were tangled one in her hair while the other began sliding past the hem of her t-shirt.

A downright thunderous knock sounded suddenly at the door, and Loki growled irritably as Ginny gasped, startling away from him. Eyes still snapping, Loki went and looked through the peephole, drying his hands on a towel as Ginny jumped down from the counter.

She was startled again when Loki took up swearing a blue streak.

"What's wrong?" Ginny asked, getting a little nervous as Loki turned back towards her.

"Guess who found us?" he snarled in a voice quiet enough that whoever was on the other side of the door couldn't hear him. Realizing how many people were flashing through her mind, he answered his own question. "Thor."


	9. Chapter 9

"Shape shift us into Veronica and Luke; we can tell him that he got the wrong address and send him across town."

Loki shook his head, thinking it through more than she was. "Thor didn't find us on his own; he got his information from a reliable source elsewhere. SHIELD, perhaps?"

"Tony, more than likely," Ginny realized as Thor knocked again, even more insistently this time. "He's seen Flare before Flare was ever well-known and is capable of tracking me down at a moment's notice. But, then why send just Thor?"

There was a sudden commotion outside as Thor voiced displeasure about something and Loki looked through the peephole again, updating her in a tight voice, "It's not just Thor; they're all here!"

"All?" Ginny asked.

"Thor, Tony, Rogers, Barton, Romanoff, Banner – all!"

Her hands began to shake and get even more unnaturally hot than normal.

Taking notice, Loki stepped across the room to stand in front of her and cradle her hands in his own, cooling them. "No, beloved, not now. Please, not right now; they'll shoot me before I can even open my mouth if you aren't capable of holding a calm conversation."

"Calm!"

"Shh…" Loki soothed, running a cold hand along her cheek.

Another knock came pounding at the door and both Ginny and d Loki cringed as Tony called out, "Open up, Pepper!"

"Shape shift!" Ginny begged Loki.

Obligingly, Loki turned into Luke, the disguise he used for when he needed to be seen as a mortal. The calming cold left his touch then, and with no reason not to, Ginny took a final deep breath and opened her apartment door. Thor and Tony stood shoulder to shoulder with the other four Avengers standing behind them.

"Who do you think you are, barging in here?" Ginny asked, the anger that she desired coming easily into her tone.

"Who do you think you are, trying to become an Avenger?" Tony shot back.

Ginny snorted instantly, saying, "Believe me, that's not what I want. As a matter of fact, that is the last thing that I could ever want."

"And what about your new pal?" Clint spoke up. "What does he want?"

"To be left alone," Ginny replied evenly.

"Where is he?" Thor asked.

"Who?"

The demigod all but snarled at her, "Frost."

"I don't know," she lied.

"Then who's living with you?" Tony replied. "I know someone moved in here."

"What have you been, stalking me?!"

"I'm concerned, Pepper!"

"You lost the right to be concerned over me three months ago! And don't call me 'Pepper!'"

"Hey," Natasha shouted over the two of them. "Can we take this inside, please?"

"No," Ginny said flatly.

"Why not?" Tony asked.

"I was in the middle of a very hot in-home lunch date, and you interrupted it, thank you very much."

"I'm decent now, darling." Ginny's toes curled with nerves that she tried not to show as "Luke" came up behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "No need to be so irritable, Ginny; let your friends in."

"They're not my friends," she muttered.

"All the same, you're being rude. Now, I insist you move aside before they do whatever they came to do right here in the middle of the hallway." He put a hand on either one of her shoulders and had to nearly literally drag her back so that the Avengers could enter, saying, "I must apologize for my girlfriend; I'm afraid that she's spent too much time bent over her accounts this week."

Ginny turned to glare at him, allowing the light of actual flames to flicker through her eyes just to freak him out.

"Be nice, darling," he said with a roll of his eyes, gesturing for their visitors to seat themselves around the room before he asked them, "What can we do for you?"

"We want answers," Tony said, looking at Ginny. "That ball of fire on TV is you, isn't it? Flare?"

"Tony, I've become an _accountant_."

"And Nat's back to being a part-time PA. Doesn't mean she can't be superwoman on the side."

"What does it even matter?" Ginny asked.

"The reason we actually came here – the question we wanted answered –" Thor reminded Tony. "Was who your partner is."

"Luke's" arm curled further around her shoulders as he said innocently, "'Frost,' right?"

"Correct," Thor said, looking at "Luke" suspiciously. "I suspect he is a shape shifter."

"Where'd you get that idea?" Steve asked as "Luke" eyed Thor.

"I thought he was an ice mutant," "Luke" volunteered, looking down at Ginny to ask her, "That is what you said, isn't it?"

"So you are Flare, aren't you, Pep?" Tony said.

"I am Flare, yes," Ginny said. "Not that it affects you or matters at all, but I am not 'Pepper' or 'Pep' or any variant of that name. I go by Virginia now – Ginny to my friends, but you can call me 'Virginia.'"

Tony snorted, but Thor brought them back to point by growling loudly, "Frost!"

"What about him?" "Luke" asked calmly, appearing ever the innocent civilian.

Suddenly Thor snapped, flying to his feet. Ginny screamed when he lunged at her partner, pinning him to the wall with one hand around his neck.

"Luke" scratched at Thor's hand, gagging and choking as the demigod ordered, "Drop your illusions!"

"I'll… die!" "Luke" gasped.

"As you well deserve."

"And why exactly does he deserve to die?" Ginny asked, using what control she had over the Extremis in her body to fill her hands with enough heat to char Thor's skin with a touch if it became necessary.

"That depends entirely upon what he's done since being banished," Thor answered, not looking away from the struggling man he still had trapped.

"He's my boyfriend, Thor! _Let him go!_"

"Ms. Potts, look at me."

Thor's request startled Ginny, but she obliged, stepping closer to him and very nearly breathing fire at him just for kicks. He surveyed her eyes with a clinical expression, and when she realized what he was looking for, she nearly slapped him.

"I'm perfectly at myself, thank you very much. My mind is my own, idiot. Now, let him go! You're hurting him!"

Thor dropped Luke, who fell into a crouched position on the floor, raggedly breathing in much-needed oxygen while the demigod said, statement matching his confused expression, "I do not understand… I was so sure that…"

"That what?" Clint asked.

Thor started, turning to look at the archer as he answered vaguely, "Nothing."


	10. Chapter 10

"Really? Because his shape shifting is starting to flicker a little," Clint pointed out from the sidelines.

Pepper whirled to face "Luke," and saw a terrifying flash of Loki's Asgardian form before he dropped Luke's form to became Frost.

"So you found me," Frost said, still a little breathless as he stood to his feet. "Now what?"

"Now you tell us who you really are," Thor growled, taking another step towards the Jotun version of his brother.

"You would have me die this way?" Frost asked curiously, eyebrows rising as he assessed his brother. "At the hands of your dearest friends?"

"As would be justified, I suppose."

"And how would that be justified?"

"Considering what you've done to them, let alone to Ms. Potts."

"Ms. Potts," Ginny grated out. "Is totally unharmed by Frost and all other people that he is capable of becoming. And I was under the impression that Frost's banishment to Midgard was to be his punishment for his other crimes."

"That is true by Asgardian standards;" Thor agreed. "But not necessarily will that be sufficient punishment for him in the minds of Midgardians."

"Whoever he is, if he's living with Pepper – sorry, _Ginny _– I say that's punishment enough for any crimes," Tony drawled.

Frost suddenly drew himself up to his full height, glaring heatedly straight at Tony as he ordered, "Do not insult my partner again."

"I'm sorry," Natasha said, her eyes narrowing suspiciously upon Frost's face as her hand moved towards the gun on her hip. "You say 'partner,' but… is this _love_, Frost?"

Ginny can tell instantly that something just went horribly wrong. Whatever undercurrent Natasha's words had carried, they'd meant something to Loki, and he'd recognized them instantly, judging by the way his demeanor had shifted again. All h*** was going to break loose unless somebody did something to stop this train of events.

But let it never be said that Loki wouldn't at least try to talk his way out of trouble first.

"Why, yes," Frost said evenly, watching Natasha with wariness dancing in the depths of his red eyes. "Yes it is – at least on my part. I have not yet garnered the courage to ask her whether she loves me or not, though I suspect she is smart enough not to – not with all the red that's in my ledger." Natasha snorted, to which Frost cocked his head to the side curiously and asked her, "How about we make a deal, Agent Romanoff? You put your weapons away and make sure your partner does the same, and I will give you a piece of information about your dear Hawkeye."

"What the heck do you know about me?" Clint snapped.

Frost kept his eyes on Natasha, repeating, "No weapons."

Natasha was obviously angry and mistrusting of Frost – and Ginny suddenly realized that was because she _knew _he was Loki – but she still threw her gun across the room after another moment's pause.

"Tell the man what the heck you know about him, then," she ordered Frost.

The Jotun smirked, saying with a tone of serenity that they all knew to be somewhat false in this situation, "I know everything about you, Barton. I know where you grew up, I know you have an elder brother named Barney with whom you no longer speak, and I know that you are _desperately _in love with your partner, regardless of the fact that she claims to believe love is for children."

"You know," Natasha said calmly, leveling her gun at Frost's chest again, "If you wanted to try playing matchmaker, you really could've gone about it a much nicer way."

"No other way would have given me even a moment's security."

"And now you've managed to double how badly I want to kill you."

"Then go ahead," Frost dared her in that same unfazed tone. "Shoot me. Please, do it. It'll be fun to see your reactions."

Ginny saw Natasha's finger twitch on the trigger and sprang instinctively to stand in front of Frost, begging, "Natasha, stop!"

"He asked me to do it," the other woman pointed out.

Ginny replied breathlessly, "And I'm asking you not to."

"Considering who he is and who he's surrounded by, he's practically dead already, so why not let me do the honors?"

"Because I love him!" Ginny cried, heat flickering dangerously in her arms. "Please, Natasha, think back to when you were in my position – practically helpless when you saw Hawkeye all but dead. You don't want to be the monster that Loki was, do you?" Here the expression of the redheaded SHIELD agent faltered, as did the steadiness of her gun, and Ginny saw it, continuing, "I swear, we will leave all of you alone if you'll do the same for the two of us. New York City is big enough for us all, right?"

"He hasn't actually caused any real damage here on Midgard since his banishment," Thor pointed out, suddenly eyeing Natasha warily as he realized that his brother just might die in front of him at her hand.

"Has he hurt you?" Tony asked Ginny evenly.

"No, of course not."

"I would never purposely hurt her," Frost swore solemnly from behind Ginny, seeming to sense that the imminent danger to his life was passing. "Or any mortal, for that matter, now that I am more at myself then when we first met."

"And how is that?" Tony snapped.

Realizing that by now all of the Avengers had slowly realized who the man was that they were facing, she answered for him, "The Chitauri were controlling him during the attack on Manhattan. His eyes have always been blue, so that's why no one noticed. Then, when he tried to tell everyone what had actually happened to him, no one would believe him."

Thor looked suddenly ashamed as his gaze darted down to the floor while he said, "No one would believe him but you."

"I do believe him, yes," she answered softly with a quick nod of her head. "And I would like to ask you again to please lower your weapons and walk out of my home. I am fine, Loki is fine, and we are happy."

"Together?" Tony verified slowly, a look of pure shock on his face. "As a couple?"

Ginny looked uncertainly at the man behind her, surprised to see that he had shifted back into Loki while she hadn't been watching him. They'd never had the question phrased quite so bluntly, and it gave her pause until she saw the searching, nearly vulnerable – even desiring – look in Loki's eyes when he returned her gaze.

It gave her the push she needed to answer Tony firmly, meaning every word, "Yes, together as superheroes, partners, and a couple."

"That's us," Loki said, and Ginny thought she heard a touch of – was that _giddiness_? – in his voice as he wrapped his cool arms around her shoulders, pulling her back against his front. "Frost and Flare."

The Avengers traded confused and a few disgruntled looks with one another before Steve asked, glancing uncertainly between Ginny and Loki, "You're sure about all of this?"

"Absolutely," Ginny answered resolutely. "Now, not to be rude, because I really do appreciate your concern, but if you could be on your way…"

"-And kindly keep Fury and SHIELD from locating us-" Loki added.

"-We'd very much appreciate it."

A few more confused looks from the bewildered Avengers and then the six of them slowly shuffled out the door.

When Thor went out last, Ginny was pleased to see the demigod lay a hand on his adopted brother's shoulder, telling him how glad he was that he was "faring so well" and congratulating him on his new "domestic endeavor with such a fine woman." And then earth's mightiest superheroes had left the apartment, and she was once again alone with the banished god of mischief.

Loki sighed, his back to her as he shut the door behind Thor, commenting, "I have the feeling he's going to be truly disappointed when he finds out we lied."

"We did what?" Ginny asked in confusion. "When did we lie?"

"You said we were a couple," Loki replied, turning a nearly emotionless gaze upon her.

Her eye twitched as she asked him carefully, "If we're not a couple… what are we then?"

"Whatever you want us to be, I guess," Loki replied with what might have been a shrug as he looked away from her.

That little impromptu meeting that they'd just finished up with the Avengers might have been a little too much she realized. Too much, too sudden, bringing to the surface too many things that she and Loki had left simmering underneath the surface of their new "partnership," whatever that word entailed. Or was it simply the shove that one of them had needed to say what had been left unsaid up until now?

"Do you really mean that?" Ginny asked him, tilting her head as she watched him distinctly avoid her gaze. "Because here's the thing, Loki: I really don't think I lied to Tony – and if you do think so, then we may have a problem."

He turned his eyes to hers now, asking curiously, "How so?"

"I told him what I thought we were – 'together as superheroes, partners, and a couple' – and I sincerely meant every word that I said…" Though she felt she knew what his answer would be, she still couldn't help the nervous pang that hit her stomach as she asked, "Do you not feel the same way?"

"I thought _you_ didn't feel the same way," Loki answered, a slow awe coming into his eyes as he took a step towards her, realizing what this conversation meant. "But you do?"

Ginny smiled softly, stepping into the circle of his arms. "I do. We are what we are, Loki."

"Superheroes, partners, a couple," he repeated. "Frost and Flare."

She smiled cheekily, saying, "I guess opposites really do attract."

"Indeed they do."

And that's when he kissed her again. Her smile widened as she kissed him back.

* * *

**A rather sudden ending, I know, but hopefully my lovely readers don't mind. Thanks_ so much_ for all of the support for this story; it's really been awesome!:) **


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